With humans becoming busier as the years go by, this has taken a toll on our lives. We are always under stress and still find ways to deal with it.

One of the aspects of our lives most affected is our sexual health. Our hectic schedules and constant struggle with overcoming stress has lead to a decrease in libido and even made us go as far as to label sex “a routine”.

This true fact is a nagging problem in our society today. And this has lead to an increasing search for different methods — scientific, psychological, medical, and even spiritual in some cases — to boost our libido and revamp our sexual lives, so that we can enjoy maximum sexual pleasure regularly.

Obviously, the search for a solution to this problem is not a new thing, it has been going on since the ancient times.

Our forefathers did their research and developed numerous potions and medicine to enhance their sexual urge and achieve maximum pleasure. Of course, a lot of these “Love Potions” were created from magical spells but a small number of them were based on ancient medical and scientific research to make concoctions of potent aphrodisiacs.

The Spanish fly is one of the oldest and most potent aphrodisiacs. It is known by a lot of people, even in the present day. We’ll be taking a look at the principal source of the active ingredient in the Spanish fly aphrodisiac.

Spanish Fly. Or More Appropriately, Cantharidin.

If you have been left wondering about what the Spanish fly is, here’s some info to help you with that:

The Spanish fly aphrodisiac isn’t gotten from flies, as most people would assume. It’s gotten from a green colored insect called the Spanish fly — (“But you said it’s not gotten from a fly?” Relax I’ll explain)

The Spanish fly is not a fly, but rather a beetle (Lytta vesicatoria) which belongs to the family of blister beetles.

It’s a Southern European insect (you were thinking Spain?) also found in Siberia and some Southern Asian countries.

The family of blister beetles are known for producing Cantharidin, which is the active ingredient in the Spanish fly aphrodisiac.

The Cantharidin found in the Spanish fly (and other blister beetles) is an aggressive vesicant; that is, a substance that causes the formation of blisters on the skin surface, if brought in contact with the substance.

The blisters formed by Cantharidin, although severe, are painless and they usually disappear after a few days.

The Spanish fly primarily produces Cantharidin to protect itself from predators. The substance is exuded from its body as a whitish fluid which has a negative effect, on contact with skin.

Cantharidin is only produced by the male Spanish fly. The female only receives the substance during mating as a nuptial gift to make the male Spanish fly ‘capable’ and produce viable offspring.

Cantharidin, if ingested in large amounts, is highly toxic and usually leads to death in a short time.

Cantharidin is also used for removing warts on the skin and also as incense in Siberia (bah! not sure if I wanna smell that).

Due to the highly toxic nature of Cantharidin, it must be handled carefully and kept in a safe place to prevent accidental poisoning.

There are notable cases of effective Cantharidin use (and rather unfortunate happenings) in history, dating back to the early ages.

Personally, I think we shouldn’t be asking “does Spanish fly really work as an aphrodisiac, as people claim?”, but rather “how powerful is Spanish fly?” and “what are the risks of using it the wrong way?”

If you think you have the personal charisma of a bullfrog or a banana slug, listen up. I know it is hard for you to believe this. I know you are having a tough time. Maybe, when you look at the mirror, you see a complete and total zero. Maybe you believe that you are the worst loser on the planet because you cannot get it on with the ladies.

I have some interesting news for you. Everybody, by this I mean everybody, at some level or another, has a natural level of charm. That is right. You can be charming if you want to. Given the right circumstances, you can say the right things to the right people to produce the right results. To top it all off, everybody has this ability.

We can all be cute and a bit charming. We can all be attractive members of the opposite sex. Now, this does not mean that all the guys look like Leonardo DiCaprio nor does this mean that all the girls look like Angelina Jolie. Instead, charm is situational. Some people may find you cute, adorable and almost irresistible in certain contexts, but completely repugnant and repulsive in others.

It is situational. It varies from time to time and person to person. Now you may be thinking that it is just a matter of luck. It varies so much that there is really no point in trying to exercise your natural charm. Obviously cannot control love or what is going on around you and how people are feeling. You have to understand that this natural level of charm is trying to come out. You will you have this core animal magnetism deep within you.

The problem is you are sabotaging yourself. This self-sabotage actually operates on two levels. First, there is the issue of suppression. As you grow up, you become more and more sensitive to what people around you are thinking and saying. For example, it is not uncommon to find little kids age three, to pick their noses randomly and casually. In fact, a lot of kids do this all the time. By the time they become teenagers, they become so self-conscious about picking their nose that they are able to control themselves until they get to the bathroom to whip out a tissue.

Do you see do you see how this works? You learn how to suppress certain behaviors because other people disapprove of your natural tendencies. When they see you as a kid picking your nose, they would say to you that it is disgusting or gross. This negative feedback would then have a profound impact on your psyche. Guess what? You would suppress the disapproved behavior.

On the other side, there is the problem of repression. You just assume that you are a loser and that you are not going to get together with members of the opposite sex. This corrupts and perverts your expectations. It actually creates a downward spiral. The more you fail with chicks, the more you think that you are a loser. Thus, you are more likely to fail with chicks and on and on it goes.

So where does an animal magnetism figure in all of this? Well, actually it is right smack dab in the middle. To unleash your per animal magnetism, you just have to admit to yourself that you have some level of natural attractiveness. That is the first step to your becoming capable of being sexy at the right place, at the right time, to the right people.

After you have made that breakthrough, celebrate your natural magnetism with affirmations. Look at yourself in the mirror and say that you are not a bad-looking guy. You are more than capable of hooking up with a lot of ladies. You have what it takes to please many women, so on and so forth. These affirmations build up your self-confidence. If you keep it up, you would be able to go from verbal affirmations to visual affirmations to action. The end goal here is to become such an irresistible chick magnet because you because of your deep reservoir of self-confidence.

The only way to trigger this is to create an upward spiral where you act confidently and where women find you sexy. You go out on a lot more dates. You get flattered by women and they compliment you. This boosts your self-confidence that you are able to achieve greater and greater results. Get on that upward spiral. There is really nobody holding you back. The only person that holds you back is yourself.

Affirmations are important and powerful. But they can only go so far. If you are like most people, you are looking for external triggers and cues that would enable you to enter a certain emotional state that increases the likelihood of you taking certain actions. So what are these external triggers that you can control?

You can try clothes. Have you heard the saying, “the clothes make the man”? When you wear certain clothes, you feel good about yourself. You feel more confident. Why do you think people spend thousands of dollars per purchase on Armani clothing? You can also try music. There are certain mood music that boosts confidence because they trigger all sorts of emotional responses. You can try confidence-boosting ambience. Maybe you would surround yourself with friends who encourage you. Finally, you can try traditional long-standing remedies like Spanish Fly or aphrodisiac foods as external triggers.

You read all sorts of meanings into these and this can lead you in taking bolder and bolder action. Remember, the bottom line is actually quite simple. When it comes to meeting members of the opposite sex or taking your sex life to the next level, the world will only reward action. It is one thing to understand and realize that you have to take action but it is another to actually do it. Do it today. Do not wait until it feels right or until everything falls into place. Just do it.

It’s true that as a woman’s estrogen level declines during menopause, sex drive and sexual pleasure often change. Yet sex after menopause can be rewarding and fulfilling if you prepare for the changes.

Vaginal Dryness

A pivotal event during menopause is the loss of estrogen, which causes the vaginal tissue to become thinner, dryer, and less elastic. This vaginal dryness, also known as atrophic vaginitis, along with the shift in the vaginal pH from acidic to alkaline, increases a woman’s risk of inflammation, swelling, and infection, which are accompanied by itching, redness of the vulva, excessive discharge from the vagina, an unpleasant odor, and pain or discomfort during sexual intercourse.

One of the sad side effects of tantra losing its ecstatic element is that with out meaning to some tantric teachers even end up doing more harm than good. Especially since they are dealing with sexuality and intimacy they need to be extra careful and ideally would have many of the same skills that qualified sex therapists, psychologists, and spiritual guides have as well. When they do not tantra teachers can have their own issues and egos take over. Here are a few examples of how a few tantra teachers who were got their clients into trouble because of this even if they didn’t mean to.

Even if you are no longer attending school, autumn conjures up the desire for change, be it switching your hairstyle or altering your love life. So if you want a September to remember, it’s important to end that casual summer romance so you can start fresh in the fall and focus on more serious encounters.

Does the thought of Valentine’s Day cause trembling and horror? Do mushy cards filled with sappy poems cause groans of agony?

Everyone knows the basics of traditional Valentine’s Day romance: cut flowers (usually roses), chocolates (usually heart-shaped), perhaps some balloons or even a small teddy bear dressed in a t-shirt with a sweet saying on it. Many people have given these gifts, or received them, but wonder if this is really all there is to Valentine’s Day. If these types of gifts seem too impersonal and artificial, don’t despair! Romance comes in as many varieties as the people who are involved, and the more personal and appropriate the gift, the more impact it makes.